Dark Horse Tactics - Intro to Chess for Beginner Level One

Chess training and practice supports the student's development of many higher order thinking skills (HOTS)—like problem solving, decision making, critical and creative thinking, planning, and even spatial intelligence. Chess training and practice also helps them improve general cognitive ability and scholastic achievement—especially in mathematics.

In this class, students will be introduced to this 1500 year old game and will begin their journey to mastering its fundamentals. The lessons will be organized as follows:

Day 1 : Welcome and Introduction to the Players (Part 1) - Introducing the King, Knight and Pawn

• Introducing the Game and Learning the Chessboard Part 1 – 
A brief history of the game, basic terminology and score keeping (Algebraic Notation)
• Introducing the Game and Learning the Chessboard Part 2 – 
Setting up the board and the value of the chessmen
• Exercise 1 – Moving the King
• Exercise 2 – Moving the Knight
• Exercise 3 – Moving the Pawn


Day 2 : Meet the Players (Part 2) - Introducing the Rook, Bishop and Queen

• Mini-Game 1 – The Farmer and the Piggies
• Mini-Game 2 – Pawn Wars
• Exercise 1 – Moving the Rook
• Exercise 2 – Moving the Bishop
• Exercise 3 – Moving the Queen


Day 3 : Puzzles, Games, and Review

• Mini-Game 1 – Starting Blocks
• Mini-Game 2 – Farmer vs. Piggies Lv. II
• Mini-Game 3 – Farmer vs. Piggies Lv. III


Day 4 : The Aim of a Chess Game

• Part 1 – Check and How to Escape Check
• Part 2 – Checkmate and Introduction to Stalemate

Day 5 : Understanding the Difference

• Exercise – Is This Checkmate?
• Activity 1 – Check, Checkmate, or Stalemate
• Activity 2 – Show Me!


Day 6 : Practice & Mini-Games

• Exercise 1 – Check the King
• Exercise 2 – Capture the Checker
• Exercise 3 – Blocking Check
• Exercise 4 – Running From Check
• Mini-Game of Choice 

Day 7 : Basic Checkmates and Stalemate (Part 1)

• Basic Checkmates, King and Queen vs Lone King

Day 8 : Basic Checkmates and Stalemate (Part 2)

• Basic Checkmates, “Rook Roller” – Two Rooks vs Lone King

Day 9 : A Few More Details

• More About Stalemate (No Legal Moves) Explained
• Exercises 1 and 2 – Checkmate or Stalemate

Day 10 : Wrap Up Session

• Q & A – Ask Me Anything!
• Gametime – Play a Game Against Your Classmates

I will be teaching using lichess.org for gameplay and a soundpad with some wacky sound effects to help with retention. All exercises will be interactive, with students able to try different solutions to puzzles and cooperate with one another to find the best answer. This class is for those with little to no prior knowledge of the game who have an interest in learning how to play.